Fifth body found in search for those missing from sunken superyacht

CNN

By Barbie Latza Nadeau, Christian Edwards and Niamh Kennedy, CNN

Porticello, Italy (CNN) — Italian authorities say a fifth body has been found in the search for those missing from the “Bayesian” superyacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily earlier in the week.

The head of Sicily’s civil protection agency Salvatore Cocina told CNN on Wednesday that the fifth body had been located on the yacht but has not yet been recovered or identified.

The news comes after four bodies were found by divers earlier Wednesday, though the identities of those found remain unclear.

A CNN team on the ground saw Italian authorities move four body bags from rescue boats to ambulances at the Sicilian port of Porticello earlier on Wednesday.

The British-flagged vessel sank early Monday – killing at least one of 22 people on board – after its mast, one of the world’s tallest, broke in half during a violent storm. Fifteen people were rescued, with six initially reported missing, and one body recovered Monday – thought to be that of the onboard chef Ricardo Thomas.

The six individuals reported missing are British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch; Morgan Stanley International director Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; prominent American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Security camera footage has shown the moments before a tornado sank the 56-meter-long (184-foot) yacht. As rain lashes down on the port, the grainy video shows the boat being battered by the storm, rocking violently from side to side before capsizing.

CNN has not been able to independently verify the location or date of the video but the profile of the ship pictured in the footage appears to match the design of the Bayesian.

Angela Barcares, Mike Lynch’s wife, survived. Speaking to the Italian daily La Repubblica while sitting in a wheelchair in a Sicilian hospital, Bacares said she was woken at 4 a.m. local time as the boat tilted.

She said she and her husband were initially not concerned, but became worried when the windows of the yacht shattered.

The yacht sank after a small waterspout – a type of tornado – spun over the Mediterranean island, likely capsizing the boat, which was anchored about a half a mile from the port of Porticello. Eyewitnesses described furious gales and hurricane winds that left a mountain of debris near the pier.

One witness, the owner of a villa looking out to where the Bayesian was anchored, said that after news of the sinking yacht emerged, he watched back his CCTV footage, where the boat could be seen sinking.

“In just 60 seconds, you can see the ship disappear,” he told Italian outlet ANSA. “You can see clearly what’s happening. There was nothing that could be done for the vessel. It disappeared in a very short time.”

Since the ship sank Monday, emergency crews have attempted to make their way further inside the wreck, with hopes of finding survivors dwindling.

On Tuesday, divers were able to access the inside of the wreck, including some of the room’s under the yacht’s control bridge. But the operations are “complex” due to numerous obstacles and narrow passages inside the ship, the brigade said, adding that Wednesday’s operation would attempt to open some of those passages.

Emergency crews resumed their search for missing people on Wednesday and have begun to inspect the ship’s lounges, ANSA reported.

Complicating rescue efforts is the short time divers can spend at the wreck site, thought to be around 50 meters underwater (approximately 150 feet). Divers have warned they only have up to 12 minutes to reach and explore the site before having to resurface.

Three days on from the wreck, investigators are still at a loss as to how the ship sank so quickly. Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, said Tuesday that such events are exceedingly rare.

“Looking at the extreme weather, if it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it’s what I would class as a black swan event,” he said, referring to a rare, unpredictable occurence. “Even outside of the maritime industry, all industries struggle with the black swan events,” he added.

And while Sicily isn’t “renowned” for tornadoes or water spouts, “there is a risk” they can happen – just not every day, Schanck said.

“I think it’s important to see what comes out that may suggest changes to vessel construction, vessel stability, potentially,” he said, stressing that shipbuilding regulations “are all designed with safety in mind.”

Italian rescue teams are expected to continue their search at dawn tomorrow after concluding their search for the day.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it will deploy a team of four inspectors to Palermo to conduct a preliminary assessment of the scene.

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CNN’s Duarte Mendonça contributed reporting.